


Refrain. Refuse. Relief. Repose.

by elle_delajoie



Category: Glee
Genre: F/M, M/M, Not Blaine or Klaine Friendly, Proposal Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:36:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24620125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elle_delajoie/pseuds/elle_delajoie
Summary: Kurt opens up to Burt while home to be with him during his oncology appointment. How might things have been different if Burt had known why Kurt had broken up with Blaine?
Relationships: Adam Crawford/Kurt Hummel, past Kurt Hummel/Blaine Anderson
Comments: 11
Kudos: 288





	Refrain. Refuse. Relief. Repose.

Monday afternoon, after Kurt’s serenade in the choir room, Burt entered the stage from the left and approached Blaine. “Anderson. You wanted to see me. You’re not going to sing to me too, are you?”

“I just wanted to give you this.” Blaine handed Burt what appeared to be a ring box.

Burt took and opened it and saw an enamel rainbow pin. He looked a bit confused.

Blaine explained. “I thought maybe you could wear it at work to show your support for gay marriage.”

“Oh. Gay rights has been my top issue, even though it makes me wildly unpopular with my distinguished colleagues. They’re on the wrong side of history, so screw ‘em.” He took the pin out and snapped the ring box shut. He turned to face a mirror on the stage and used it to fasten the pin to his shirt collar.

“I’m so glad that you feel that way because, assuming that we legally can, um, I wanted to formally ask for your permission to ask Kurt to marry me.”

Burt looked up in the mirror at Blaine, who was standing behind him. “Are you kidding or are you nuts?”

“Kurt is my soulmate. I love him. I know I’ve hurt him badly, but I also know that if I want to get him back, I have to do something bold.”

Burt took a deep breath, let it out, and turned to face Blaine. “Hurt him badly? You make it sound like you told him you didn’t like his scarf or his shirt or that you didn’t like the dinner he made you.” He calmed himself again. “Kurt and I have spent a lot of time talking this past weekend.” He pulled a stool around and sat facing Blaine. “Sit down.” He waited for Blaine to sit and he looked him right in the eyes. “I found out that Kurt went to New York and two weeks later you slept with someone else, and then took a plane to New York to blame him for it. That’s not love. That’s… That’s… punishment for going without you? It’s retaliation for not being at your beck and call anymore because he had to be an adult and work to pay his bills? I know you’re used to your parents paying for things for you, but that’s not how it works in our family. People work to support themselves, only asking for help if they absolutely can’t do something on their own. He sold that Navigator he called his ‘baby’ to finance his move to New York. He got that internship position at Vogue. You do realize that ‘intern’ means short-term unpaid or minimum wage job, right?”

“Um.”

“Well, it does. Besides furnishing an empty room and making it a place that could be lived in, he also had to pay half the rent and utilities on that place. You were there. Everything in that loft – either he paid for or Rachel’s dads did. Doing well during the internship had the possibility of getting him a permanent position. You kept calling him at work and getting upset that he couldn’t take your calls. Instead of being proud of him for getting that position and supporting him, you jeopardized him keeping it and moving up to a permanent position. That’s not love. I trusted you and you lied to me. You let me take you to New York to surprise him for Christmas without giving me any reason to think that he wouldn’t be thrilled to see you. You manipulated him into spending Christmas with you. That’s not love.”

“I screwed up. I know. But I’ve learned from my mistakes. I love Kurt and I want to marry him.”

“Are you looking to screw Sam on the side then? Well, some guy who looks like Sam, but is into guys?”

“What?”

“I won’t say who, but someone told Kurt about your crush on Sam. So, are you looking to marry Kurt and screw around on him? You don’t crush on other guys to the point of other people noticing when you’re in love with someone. I mean real love, not this childish I-want-to-get-married-because-gay-people-finally-can nonsense that you’re spouting to me.”

Blaine flustered as he tried to say something.

Burt interrupted him. “You don’t understand what it means to be married – gay, straight, whatever. It’s not the same as living together. Look, I can’t tell you why, but something happens when you exchange vows. It’s a big deal. It’s why getting divorced is so much harder than breaking up. There’s a really big difference between marrying a person and marrying an idea.”

“What if he meets someone else?”

“I think you know the answer to that. I’m pretty sure that you know that he’s already met someone else. He told me that he told you about it back at the wedding a month ago.”

“But he still.” He stopped and looked away.

“I know. He told me. He and the guy had just been out on a few coffee dates back at that point. They weren’t ‘going steady’ or whatever the term is these days.”

“Exclusive.”

“Fine. They weren’t exclusive back then. What Kurt did was inadvisable and dumb in my opinion, but he wasn’t cheating on this guy. A couple of times drinking coffee together is nothing whatsoever like dating someone exclusively for what?” He paused to count. “18 months, a year and a half. You two had been together for a year and a half. You threw away what you had with Kurt in two weeks.”

“I told him I was sorry and that it was a mistake.” Blaine looked embarrassed.

“It wasn’t a mistake. It was a choice – a long, long list of bad choices. You gave someone the impression you were available. You agreed to meet up with him. You went in a room alone with him. I could go on, but I’m sure you get the point. Every step you took that led to the final step was a choice that you could have changed. No one has sex by mistake. And saying that you’re sorry that you made a mistake and begging for forgiveness is ridiculous. I’m not sure that you did apologize. Apologizing is admitting that you’re wrong and that you don’t deserve forgiveness. The person who is wronged can grant forgiveness, but it’s not appropriate to ask for it when the wrong that was done to them was intentional. And believe you me, having sex with someone is intentional. You didn’t just fall on that guy’s dick. I read those pamphlets back when I gave them to Kurt.”

Blaine averted his eyes and stared at the ground.

“Look, you need to seriously reconsider this proposal idea. You and Kurt are not together. You haven’t been dating since the beginning of October, which was five and a half months ago.” He stood up and stepped towards Blaine. He reached out and put his hand on Blaine’s shoulder. “Actions have consequences. You can’t always undo the things you’ve done, but you can learn from your past. The next time you have a boyfriend that is head-over-heels for you, don’t cheat on him.” He let go of Blaine’s shoulder. “I gotta go. Thanks for the pin.” Burt turned and walked off the stage the way he had come in. He stopped and turned back. “One more thing. Asking for permission to ask someone to marry you is a really old-fashioned thing to do AND it was done back when girls were their father’s property. Kurt is neither a girl, nor my property. You may want to keep that in mind should you find someone else that you want to marry some day.” He turned back and left.

Blaine sat there until he heard the stage door to the hallway shut. He stood up and knocked the stool over. “Damn!”

“Hey, hey!” Sam said, as he came up the aisle. “Stop.” He jogged the rest of the way up to the stage. “What’s going on?”

“I asked Burt’s permission to marry Kurt.” 

Sam leaned over and stood the stool back up and sat down on it. “I take it that it didn’t go well.”

“He knows everything. He told me ‘no.’”

Sam sat there, waiting for Blaine to finish.

Blaine took deep breath and let it out resolutely. “His response changes nothing. Kurt and I are soulmates. We’re meant to be together,” Blaine said with finality. He walked off the stage and out the door Burt had gone out, leaving Sam sitting on the stool. 

<^> <^> <^> <^> <^>

On their way into the building Tuesday morning, Blaine approached Sam. “You can only do this once, so it has to be perfect. It has to be, you know, special.”

“Are you still actually talking about a marriage proposal? Dude, we’re in high school. You’re not ready to get married. And I’m not letting you.”

“Well, I’m not asking for your permission.”

“You already did that and got a ‘no’ or have you forgotten that already?”

“I’m going to do it. What I’m asking for is your help about how to do this. From my best friend.”

“Okay, then as your ‘best friend’ I need to remind you that just a few weeks ago that you were totally confused. You didn’t even know where Kurt stood with this Adam guy.”

“Well, I don’t remember you being this introspective when you asked Brittany to marry you.”

“Well, I regret that.”

“Will you listen to yourself? You sound exactly like the rest of the world, saying that ‘it’s not time yet.’ Well, you know what? People like me have been hearing that for hundreds and hundreds of years. This is happening. I am going to ask Kurt to marry me. And not only are you one my best friends, I was kind of hoping that you would be my best man. So, let me know if you change your mind.”

Blaine walked away and Sam didn’t seem him again until Glee, during which Mr. Schue finally announced their set list for Regionals, giving them four days to learn everything. Brittany came in and behaved totally irrationally demanding she be the star of everything.

<^> <^> <^> <^> <^>

Sam headed straight upstairs when he got home. He closed the door and locked it, dropped his backpack on the floor,and flopped straight down on the bed.

Kurt came out of the bathroom. “Sam? Are you okay?”

Sam jumped. “Oh, my God. I’m sorry.” He sat up. “I’ll go to my own room. Since you’ve been in New York, sometimes I hide in here and I can get away with being MIA for a while. I turn my phone off and just lie here and veg. When anyone comes over, Carole lets them ‘see if I’m here’ and when they don’t find me in my room, they leave.”

“Oh. Well I don’t mind that. Do you want to talk about whatever has caused you to want to be MIA today?” Kurt sat down on the bed facing him.

“Everything. I just want this year to end. At this point, I wish I had taken Miss Pillsbury up on her offer to graduate mid-term. But back when she asked me it was right before Sectionals and I had high hopes for us making it to Nationals again. And I honestly didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I just want to be me again. Somewhere between September and now, I lost myself and made some really bad decisions.”

“Well, how about we start with a makeover.”

“You’re serious? I’m having a nervous breakdown and you want to give me a makeover?”

“Yes. You don’t look like yourself, Sam. You’ve always been this laid back, yet well-groomed guy. What’s with your hair? Let’s scrub the stains out of your jeans, get your wardrobe in order, clean your shoes up, cut your hair, give you manicure, and a good facial. Let’s get you looking like yourself and we’ll talk. Maybe by the end of the makeover, you’ll feel more like yourself as well. Other than the laundry and shoe cleaning, we’ll do the rest in here where no one will look for you.”

“You win. I’ve missed you. Let’s go work some Kurt magic on my wardrobe, and then we’ll hide up here before anyone else gets home or comes looking for me.”

<^> <^> <^> <^> <^>

Kurt put the clippers down and reached for the shears. He began by shaping Sam’s bangs. “So, Blaine’s trying to get you to help him with his insane proposal idea?”

“Yeah.”

“Do it.”

“What?”

“Look, you apologized earlier for letting yourself get pulled to the dark side. God knows that I’m the one who would know the most about letting that happen. Case in point – me hooking up with him at the wedding-that-wasn’t. I did learn something important from that choice though. I’m not in love with him anymore. Sure, it felt good, but my own right hand feels good.”

Sam laughed.

“The connection was gone. It was a purely physical act. One thing I learned is why people enjoy hook-ups. It feels better than your own right hand and there’s no issues with things like ‘Will the guy publicly shame me because another guy is sending me cheesy pick-up lines?’”

“True. Those lines were ridiculous and Blaine’s reaction was even more ridiculous. How did I let myself get to the point where Blaine is my best friend? Seriously? I feel like I’ve been in an extended weird dream sequence. Anyway, back to what you were saying. You learned the value of a hook-up and that you aren’t in love with Blaine.”

“Look to your left.” Kurt continued to work on Sam’s hair. “Exactly. I learned why other people enjoy hook-ups, but I also proved to myself that I’m not one of those people. Realizing that I wasn’t in love with Blaine was freeing, but I still had to make myself let go. I actually had to sit down and make a list of reasons why it was over and why I wasn’t going to go back to him. And I had to make the choice to allow myself to be open to finding love again. My default setting had been ‘Blaine and Kurt forever’ for so long that I had to mentally overwrite that message in my brain. It took work, but it was worth it. I’ve been seeing a counselor too. And I’m really happy with Adam.” Kurt put the scissors down and combed through Sam’s hair. He stepped to the side. “What do you think?”

“It looks great. Can you do something about the color?”

“Not without going out and getting some dye. I’m sure you have some homework. Just stay in here and do it. Leave your phone off. I’ll go get what I need and I’ll bring dinner back too.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive. Carole and Dad are going to some political event tonight. Dad invited me to tag along, but I declined the offer.” 

Kurt texted Carole, letting her know that he and Sam would be holed up in his room all evening right before he pulled out of the driveway.

<^> <^> <^> <^> <^>

After they had finished Sam’s makeover, Sam turned his phone back and within five minutes it rang.

“Where are you?” Blaine demanded.

“I’m at home.”

“I came by and you weren’t there.”

“You’re not my dad. I’m 18. I got my hair done. Chill out.”

“Okay. So, I need you to come with me to the mall tomorrow after Glee to help me pick out a ring for Kurt.”

Kurt nodded.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll go.”

“Great. Tina is coming too.”

“I need to get back to my homework.”

“Okay? I’ll tell you my great plan at lunch tomorrow then.”

“Okay. See ya.” Sam disconnected the call. “I’m doing this only because you’ve asked me to. And it’s part of my self-imposed penance for being such a numbskull to end up in a position where Blaine considers me his best friend. I should have gone back to Kentucky. Being a stripper wasn’t that bad.”

“Sam,” Kurt said in a very serious tone. “You can be a stripper if you want, but finishing high school is important. Some day, you’ll get too old to be a stripper and you’ll need a diploma to get a job.”

Sam cracked up laughing. “God, I missed you.”

“I missed you too. Do you have any homework you need help with?”

“Actually I don’t. I took the classes I failed a year ago in the fall this past fall. This semester, I just have electives. I pretty much enrolled in every art class McKinley offers and Home Ec.”

“So, the homework you mentioned to Blaine?”

“I draw and write music.”

“Good for you.”

“I want to talk to you about something else before I kick you out to your own room.”

Sam laughed. “I might just stay here, but what did you want to talk about?”

“When I went to the counselor, he talked to me about accepting the love we think we deserve when we don’t value ourselves enough. I’m still working on it myself. I mean I live with Rachel and Santana, so maintaining any sense of self-worth is hard to do with Santana there to knock me down and Rachel auditioning for _Funny Girl_ and getting a callback. But at least I’ve started to think about it. Adam compliments me every time he sees me, even if it’s only been an hour since he last saw me. Little things like saying, ‘Hey, gorgeous!’ as he sits next to me at a study table. I’ve never had that. You and I had an easy friendship while you lived with us. There were no pretenses. I let you see me in my regular, non-company pajamas.”

Sam chuckled. “I know. I got to see the real Kurt.”

“You were the first person I was like that with. I’ve gotten to the point where I can be like that with Adam. I can be myself. I’m not going back to having to live up to someone else’s expectations of who I should be. I’m not going to go back to living in someone else’s shadow. I never believed I deserved unconditional love. I believed that I was both ‘too much’ and ‘not enough’. That’s how I was treated and I came to accept it as fact. But it’s not true. I am ‘just right’ the way I am. That doesn’t mean that I think I’m perfect because I am far from it. But I am worthy of being loved just the way I am. And so are you, Sam. I know Brittany broke up with you and that she’s the fourth in a string of girls who didn’t appreciate you for the amazing guy that you are. You deserve to be loved just the way you are.”

“You make me wish I liked guys. You know that?”

“Well, I did wish you liked guys. When you joined Glee, I had high hopes.” He sighed wistfully, teasing Sam. “You said you haven’t felt like yourself in a while. Why don’t you see if there’s somewhere around here where you can get some counseling. If not, I’ll help you see if you can find someone online. I think you might be depressed. I know I was. Being away from your family and repeating your senior year. Having all of us gone. Glee Club ending. Feeling so uncertain about the future. I really think you need someone to talk to. At least consider it.”

“I will. I do need to figure out what to do next. The semester is half over and I still don’t know what I’m doing after graduation.”

“Try going to Lima Community College and talk to one of their career counselors or their academic advisors. It’s at least a place to start.”

“I’ll do that. I’ll leave you to sleep in peace.” Sam got up.

“Right.” Kurt rolled his eyes. “Peaceful sleep when I know that Blaine is planning to propose to me.”

“Well, you could tell him no before he does it.”

“I’ll get blamed for him losing his mojo before Regionals. Seriously, think what Tina would say.”

“This is ridiculous. Tina’s crushing on him. He’s crushing on me. He wants us to help him propose to you. I am in some weird _Twilight Zone_ episode.”

“Welcome to my life. You know, the one where my ex who cheated on me, shows up to spend Christmas with me and my dad, who had just told me that he had cancer.”

“Right. I’ll let you get some sleep. I’ll see what I can find out about getting some career advice and some counseling. Thanks for my makeover. I really appreciate it. My hair looks so much better. I feel better.” He grabbed his backpack and opened the door. “Thanks again.” He closed the door behind him.

Kurt pulled his phone out and called Adam.

<^> <^> <^> <^> <^>

Wednesday after Sam came home from school, he and Kurt sat at the island in the kitchen eating the cookies that Kurt had stressed baked after he finished one of his assignments earlier that afternoon.

“You did not!”

“I did.”

“I cannot believe you said that Blaine wanted to ‘do you’ in front of the saleslady at the jewelry store. And Tina was there pointing out the ring that she would want Blaine to buy for her? That’s nuts. What did he say?”

“He just sort of looked me like why did I bring it up, but he didn’t deny it.”

“He asked me to come have lunch with him at McKinley on Friday. I didn’t answer his text yet.”

Kurt’s phone buzzed with a text. He stood up and pulled it out of his pocket and sat back down on barstool. Once he read it, he put it face down on the island.

“What? You look agitated.”

“Now, he’s texting me saying that he met this really lovely lesbian couple and he wants me to go to dinner with him at Breadstix to meet them.”

“Oh.”

“Oh? What does that mean?”

“It means that I have a really good guess as to who it is. When we were at the jewelry store at the mall, the saleslady took Blaine aside to talk to him privately after he made a declaration that he was going to ask you, a guy, to marry him. After he insisted that you were his soulmate.”

“Gross. I’m not his soulmate. I think he has the definition of soulmate and whipping boy confused.”

“Burn.”

“It took me too long to get to this point, but I am not going back. I will not be blamed for someone else’s choice. I deserve respect from my partner. I deserve honesty and faithfulness. Without those three things, the words ‘I love you’ don’t mean much. Going to Breadstix sounds like a terrible way to spend an hour of my life.”

“I’m going to tell him that Friday night dinner is reserved for the four members of the Hudson-Hummel family to keep him away from here, in case he thought he was invited this week. It’s my fault he spent so much time around your dad. I’m sorry about that. I should have thought through it more. He wanted to hang out, but every time I tried to say that we needed to go his house, he’d weasel the conversation back around to coming over here. But I didn’t know that he was going to New York with your dad or I would have told you. When they left, I thought they were all three going to wherever Carole’s family lives. I didn’t know that only Carole and Finn were going and that Burt had decided to go see you at the last minute and take Blaine with him. I went to Brittany’s and spent winter break there. I guess it was nice while it lasted.”

“Maybe it’s time to put dating on hold and wait until you’ve made your choice about what to do after graduation. Maybe you can meet a nice adult to date wherever you end up.”

“Maybe. So, are you going to Breadstix or not?”

“Ugh. I’m definitely not going to the picnic lunch at McKinley on Friday. That’s just asking to be publicly serenaded. I don’t think he’d try that at Breadstix. I’ll go, but I’m telling him it’s the last time I’m doing anything with him. I may be here this week, but that doesn’t excuse me from my assignments at NYADA. I have to turn everything in Monday morning by 8:30. A couple of my classmates have been recording my ‘can’t miss’ classes. You know the ones where the teacher talks about things not found in the readings and then includes them on the exams. I’ll go tonight because Dad’s at another political whatever-it-is tonight.”

“Well, you have fun doing that. I’m going to go downstairs and shoot things for a while before I go up and do more research. Thanks for the cookies.”

<^> <^> <^> <^> <^>

Sunday after an early lunch, Kurt put his suitcase in the back of Burt’s SUV. He hugged Finn and Carole before they left. He and Burt rode in silence for a while.

After a while, Burt broke the ice. “I’m really glad that you came for the weekend and my appointment and that you managed to stay the whole week. I’ve loved having you around again.”

“I’m glad I got to spend time with you alone. I know I apologized, but I’m really glad that I finally just told you everything that went on. If I hadn’t, I can imagine this going much differently.”

“Well, what you told me surprised me. Hell, it shocked me. As much as I didn’t want to hear all of it because of how badly you’ve been hurt, I’m glad you told me. Are you okay? You look like I’m driving you to your execution.”

“I’m torn. Being proposed to is supposed to be this magical thing that happens just once in your life. Part of me still wants to say ‘yes’ because being with Blaine forever is how I had envisioned my life going for the last nearly two and a half years. I pined for him to return my feelings for five months. We were together for a year and a half and we’ve been broken up for five and a half months. It’s hard not to fall back into that. I really like Adam and I’m so close to being in love with him, but it’s new. Blaine feels comfortable, you know?”

“I know, kiddo. But more than comfortable, I think it’s more like the ‘devil you know’. Blaine isn’t good for you and you know it, but you’ve gotten used to the dance. He pushes himself into the limelight and you retreat again. This isn’t the dance you had planned for your life. You didn’t wear those crazy clothes and sing high C’s, or whatever, to be relegated to playing tree number four.”

Kurt laughed. “You’re right. I know you’re right. And I get it. Going to Dalton was good in some ways, but I lost part of myself there and I didn’t get it back when I left. I’m finding it again in New York. I know being with Blaine isn’t what I want, but it’s easy to fall back into old habits.”

“I know we talked about this, but maybe you should have just invited him to the house this morning and sat him down and talked to him.”

“I’ve tried talking, Dad. I’ve repeated the words ‘We’re just friends.’ enough times that if they were going to sink in, he would have changed his behavior by now.”

“Alright. If you say so.”

“Tell me about you and Mom.”

“She and I met when we were 22. And I asked her to marry me six months in. We were just kids. It was really hard at first. You know you go in with all these fantasies about what your life together is gonna be like. Nothing but laughing, dancing around in your underwear, cooking pasta, and sex, lots of sex. It’s hard being married though. It’s hard enough being in your 20s.”

“You probably think this is weird to say, but honestly, I think a lot of that was just moving out and being on your own for the first time. I had similar fantasies of what it would be like to live with Rachel. Once we weren’t competing for anything, I thought thing would settle down and we’d ease into a fun life together. We enjoy a lot of the same things. I thought we’d have the laughing and dancing around in our pajamas. Cooking together. No sex of course. Gross.”

Burt laughed.

“But I think a lot of that is just the fantasy of being free to be on your own with no parental rules and whatnot. I thought we’d go see Broadway shows every weekend and that we’d see all of the amazing things to see in the City. But it’s expensive. The only show I’ve been to was with you. I can’t afford the tickets. I can’t afford to do anything. And honestly, I can’t take living with Rachel and Santana. It’s a nightmare. I know you’re not completely in favor of my choice to move out, but I appreciate you supporting me anyway.”

“I get it. It may not be what I would chose given all of the choices in the world, but I get that you can’t study in the loft and that you’re tired of playing housekeeper and referee. You have two jobs and school. You don’t need the rest of the crap.”

“Do you wish you had waited longer to get married?”

“Nope. I don’t regret it at all. I would give just about anything to spend just ten more minutes with her. I loved your mom, Kurt. She was this light that made everything brighter. We only get a few days when it comes down to it. You know that better than anyone.”

“I do and I miss her too.”

“You already know my opinion on this. He came to me. I told him that he was nuts.”

“Sam tried to talk him out of it, too.”

“I’m going to do a better job with Sam than I have been and Carole will too.”

“Good. And I’m going to do better at not keeping everything to myself.”

“I’m glad. So, what are you expecting when we get there?”

“Well, we met on the spiral stairwell, so I’m assuming that’s where he plans to ask me. I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t hate him. I don’t want to publicly humiliate him. I just want him to finally get it through his head that we’re over. I guess I’ll have to play it by ear since Sam didn’t know exactly what Blaine had planned. They were putting it together this morning. He told me that he had gotten Vocal Adrenaline, the Haverbrook Deaf School, and the Warblers to help the New Directions. Why couldn’t he just ask me in private?”

“I’m pretty sure you know the answer to that.”

“He’s doing it in public because he knows that I won’t want to publicly humiliate him. And because to him this is more than just asking me to marry him – it’s this grand political statement about gay rights.”

“I think you’re right on both accounts.”

“Please stand where I can see you. He’s going to have some heart-wrenching speech that he’s written to try to persuade me to say ‘yes’ and I’m telling you up front that saying ‘no’ will not be the first thing that pops in my head, despite going into this knowing that this is not what I want.”

“I can do that. And if you’ve changed your mind, I can just turn around and drive back towards the airport. We can hang around in a restaurant or coffee shop until later.”

“I need to put an end to this. I don’t want to marry him.”

“Alright then. We’re here.”

Burt pulled to the side of the drive and within a minute of getting out of the SUV, members of a marching band came out of the building to line both side of the sidewalk. Warblers came out onto the balcony above. Kurt turned back to look at Burt. He nodded slightly. Kurt turned to walk into the building.

<^> <^> <^> <^> <^>

Blaine’s speech was coming to the conclusion. “All I want to do, all I’ve ever wanted to do is spend my life loving you.”

The proposal had gotten to Kurt. His eyes were misty. The marching band, four choirs singing and dancing, and the falling rose petals – it was moving and theatrical. And if Kurt had challenged Blaine to come up with the most theatrical proposal, he would have succeeded hands down. Kurt refocused as Blaine got down on one knee.

“So, Kurt Hummel, my amazing friend, my one true love.” Blaine paused to open the ring box.

Kurt doubled-down on his reserve willpower and briefly looked up at Burt again, who gave him the same slight nod. Kurt saw only one ring in the box.

“Will you marry me?”

Everyone, well most everyone, was looking at him with such hopeful faces.

Kurt stopped, took a deep breath, and spoke in a calm quiet voice. “Blaine, can we please continue this in private?”

Blaine stood up. “Why?”

“Because I’m not comfortable answering you in front of all of these people, many of whom, actually most of whom, I don’t know. It was a grand spectacle, but I’d like to finish this in private.”

“Just answer me.”

“Please let’s move to a private area.”

Blaine didn’t move.

Kurt reached out for the ring box and closed it.

In his shock, Blaine froze in place, and Kurt was able to step around him.

Blaine came to his senses and turned quickly and followed Kurt. “I don’t understand.”

Kurt stopped against the wall in the hallway just outside the rotunda just far enough that no one in the rotunda could see them. He kept his voice down. “I know you don’t. The part of your speech you need to think about is that you called me your ‘amazing friend’. I offered you my friendship, but nothing more. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve said we’re just friends in the last week alone. People don’t marry their friends. If they did, you and Tina or you and Sam could get married. We haven’t been a couple since the beginning of October. When you cheated on me, you broke my trust. You broke the bond between us. I thought maybe we could rebuild our friendship, but you seem to be incapable of respecting my boundaries. No means no. I’ve tried just being your friend all week, but instead of accepting that friendship, you arranged for what seems to be about 75 people, most of whom I don’t know personally,to come what should be one of the most intimate of moments between a couple. You suspected or knew I wouldn’t say ‘yes’ in private, so you made a spectacle of it and thought that I would be overcome by the emotion of it all, I guess. I’m not going to apologize because I’ve made myself clear all week in front of several witnesses, including the lovely lesbian couple at Breadstix, that we are not a couple.”

“But Kurt, we’re soulmates.”

“Blaine, I don’t know how to make myself any more clear. I will not agree to marry you. We are not going to date. I know that you know that I am seeing someone in New York. Please, let this go. If you are auditioning for NYADA because you think that the two of us going to the same school will increase your odds of us getting back together, I suggest you reconsider. Go to a school that fits your dream. If that’s NYADA, fine, but we will not be boyfriends. At this point, I’m asking for you to not contact me. If you come to NYADA, just do your thing and I’ll do mine. I’m going to leave now.” Kurt turned and saw Burt leaning against the wall on the other side of the hall down about 15 feet from where he was standing.

Burt walked over once he saw Kurt make eye contact with him. He put his hand on Blaine’s shoulder. “I tried to warn you. I explained that this was a bad idea and why. Kurt’s asking you to leave him alone and I expect you to follow his wishes. He deserves to live his life in a way that makes him happy. Don’t keep trying to push your way in where you’ve been asked to stay out.” He clapped him on the shoulder again before he pulled his hand away. “Give yourself some time to grow up. Get a job. Pay your own way. Learn the value of hard work. Not everything can be yours just because you want it. Sometimes things just don’t work out like you want them to. The sooner you learn to deal with that, the better off you’ll be.”

<^> <^> <^> <^> <^>

“Oof,” Kurt said as he plopped back on Adam’s sofa. “That was the fastest move ever. You’re sure about this, right? I know you asked me before I left, but…”

Adam met Kurt’s insecurity with a gentle kiss. “Yes, I’m sure, darling.”

“I’m sorry that it’s such a wreck in here. The Apples came in like a hurricane and moved everything from the loft to here in a flash, but it’s going to take some time to make your place look habitable again.”

“OUR place looks quite lovely already.” Adam winked at Kurt. 

Kurt smiled. “I’m glad you think so. How about we find my school books and start hanging my clothes up so they aren’t horribly wrinkled?”

“I had a slightly different plan. Come a bit closer, darling.” Adam rearranged himself.

Kurt slipped his shoes off, scooted closer, and rotated to lean back into Adam’s chest. He pulled his knees up, putting his feet up, and he let Adam wrap his arms around him.

“It’s been an insane day. Just take some time to breathe. I’ll help you iron your clothes if necessary. And although my general mode of dressing may indicate otherwise, I am quite adept with an iron. Miss Santorini would never let anyone get through Introduction to Costume Design without knowing how to properly wield an iron.”

Kurt laughed and relaxed even more. “That’s the truth.” Kurt took a deep breath and let it out. “Thank you.”

“Of course, darling. I’m quite looking forward to sleeping in your bed tonight.” He felt Kurt tense a bit. “Not like that, darling. Your bed is fantastically comfortable from my previous napping experiences, which is why I sent mine away and kept yours.”

“It IS comfortable. So, are you.”

“Well, that’s good to know.” He kissed Kurt gently on the top of his head. “That means I’ll get to snuggle up like this frequently. I’m a lucky bloke.”

“So am I.” Kurt turned slightly and nuzzled into Adam’s neck. 

Adam kissed the top of his head again and closed his eyes. Kurt dozed off with a smile on his face.


End file.
